Cyber-Monday

Hoping to get some more shopping done today online.  I'm not getting a lot of cooperation from people on their "wish lists!"  I remember the days when Justin and Jessica were little and they would rattle off a list a mile long.  I didn't go out shopping at all, either on Thanksgiving evening or Black Friday.  There are no deals good enough to make me want to go through that!  So many of the "doorbusters" are products I wouldn't want anyway.  We had an excellent Thanksgiving and I did really like the White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse cake that I mentioned in my last post so I'll probably get another for our family Christmas party later this month.

On the 1st, we decorated our Christmas tree and changed over a lot of our decor to Christmas.  I'm saving a few ornaments for Ryan and Jacob to add today.  From what I hear, they are both sick with colds so that's always a challenge for Jeff and I not to get sick, too.  I did really well last year avoiding their germs so hopefully will fare as well this holiday season.  Here's a photo of our tree:

Here's a close up of the ribbon that Mr. Jeffrey so tastefully adds:

   Can't remember if I showed you my latest Christmas pillow cover from Pottery Barn?  It's a woody.

We have a couple of warm days ahead- in the 80's- so Jeff will hang up the outdoor lights while the weather is nice.  By Wednesday, the temps are dropping into the 60's so it will start to feel a little more Christmassy.  Even though it's warm, I still made a Southwest Turkey Chili with some of our leftovers.  That'll be nice to have later this week.  Happy December!

Half Century Ago...

People always say there are certain events in history that you can vividly remember exactly where you were when you heard the news.  50 years ago, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, was one of those moments in time.  I was a young girl but I remember that 1960 election as being the first time I ever was interested in a presidential candidate.  I remember it was very controversial that he was a Catholic.  We loved his pretty, stylish wife, Jackie, and young Caroline and John-John.  On November 22, 1963, I was sitting in a classroom when a funny tone came over the loud speaker and it was announced that JFK had been shot and killed in Dallas.  We looked to our teacher to see what it all meant and he was crying.  We were scared, didn't really know how to take it all in.  The next few days were so sad... everyone was glued to their TV sets watching the events unfold and the funeral.  It really marked the end of innocence of our country and the next decade brought us more tragedies like Viet Nam, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy.  Now we have September 11, 2001 as one of those days that everyone knows exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

Annie's Meme:  What's for Dinner?
Do you prepare a menu for the week?  Do you stick to it or are last minute changes a habit?  Not a week ahead but maybe 3 or 4 days and we often change plans if something comes up and we need a quicker dinner.
Do you spend a lot of time planning menus?  No, now that it's just Jeff and I we don't do much planning
What is your family's favorite menu for dinner?  Barbecued anything.  We probably BBQ 3 or 4 times a week, year round.
Do you eat out during the week?  Regularly or is that a special treat?  We have Friday Night Takeout...doesn't everyone?  (I've convinced Jeff it's a given.)
Is dinner simple or elaborate?  Not sure... it's always healthy with a salad, crusty Rosemary bread, fish, chicken or lean meat, a fresh veggie and a healthy carb like quinoa, wild rice, or risotto.
Do you have dessert after your meal?  No
What beverages are served at the dinner table?  Small glass of wine
Do you serve different foods in summer and winter?  We might add something like vegetarian chili or a soup in a crock pot during winter but we can still BBQ here year round.

Happy Labor Day!

Never like this end of the summer holiday time but in SoCal we have plenty of summer left ahead of us.  The last few days have felt more like Florida or Hawaii with the high humidity.  On Saturday, Jeff and I went to Fiesta Hermosa which takes place over the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.  It sort of kicks off and wraps up the summer.  Ryan started 1st grade last Wednesday so we mainly have Jacob here with us during the week.  Ryan's school doesn't get out until 2:30 and his dad picks him up here at 4 so he's only here for a little over an hour in the afternoon.  Here's a photo of Ryan walking to school on his first day back.

Not too enthusiastic!

I can relate!  I always thought the last day of school was the best day ever!  All the anticipation of what the summer ahead held!  It seemed to go on forever...all those lazy, hazy crazy days... and now summer is over in a blink of the eye!  

September is a busy month for us.  Jessica's birthday is the 7th, Justin's is the 10th, our 39th anniversary is the 14th and Jacob turns four on the 22nd.  Jeff and I are determined to do something really, really special next year on our 40th!  This year was kind of spoiled by my back problem.  I see my doctor this Friday and I'm sure I'll be able to cast my back brace aside and begin physical therapy!        

Fashion Nonsense

Boys!  They have no fashion sense.  Everything they wear has to have superheroes or Disney characters on them.  Tried to convince Jacob to get these cute swimsuits with matching rash guards and hats...there were friendly sharks, VW surf wagons and starfish, but no!  He had to have Disney Cars.  Here he is proudly modeling his new outfit.

He loves to browse Toys R Us catalogs and tell me what he "needs."  So I was teasing him by showing him Disney princess toys, Hello Kitty and My Little Pony.  He wouldn't hear of it!  We are going to take him this week to the little local waterpark so now he's all set.  We are having a big warm up with temperatures in the 100's by the weekend.

Sorry for my lack of posting and visits.  Sitting still really bothers me.  I see my doctor this Monday so I'm pretty sure I'll get the microdiscectomy surgery since it's been 5 long months with no improvement at all.  I gave it the old college try with physical therapy so at least I feel like I didn't just give in to the surgery without giving other things a shot.

We Changed Our Minds!

This was such a funny sight, I had to take a photo.  In the midst of our heatwave on Monday, the pets all wanted to go outside first thing in the morning which is their routine.  I asked them if they were sure because it was on it's way to 102 degrees.  After a few minutes, I came back into the kitchen and this is what I saw!

Let us back in!  We changed our minds!

The only one missing is our calico, Hayley.  She rarely goes outside but the two boy cats, Kalani and Hunter, love to spend the day in our backyard.  The dogs never spend much time outside... they are house dogs!  Our heatwave only lasted a couple of days and we are back to more normal warm weather. 

Last night, Jeff and I went back to Sharky's restaurant for their $2 taco and $2 beer night.  It's going on every Tuesday and Thursday in May.  We went last week and loved the little souvenirs we got from Jeff's two beers.  Cute little ponchos and sombreros which are bottle openers. 

I checked on and off all day Tuesday for a post from Annie's daughter about how the surgery went.  Holly reports it want extremely well and the doctor expects a full recovery!  Great news!

Devil Winds

Some people call our Santa Ana winds, "Devil Winds."  My Facebook friends saw this video that I posted yesterday.  I took a video off our bedroom balcony to show you how strong these warm winds are.  I like them because they make the beach so warm but the downside is the brush fires they often bring.  Sure enough, as I pan the camera to the west, you will see a major brush fire that began at the Camarillo Grade about 10 miles from us.  Fortunately, much of the area that burned is in the rugged hillsides but there are many residential areas that the firemen were able to protect with water-dropping helicopters.  They had to evacuate Cal State Channel Islands and quite a few RVs were destroyed in a RV storage area.

Today we are going to Ryan's school.  The kindergarten classes are performing songs and Ryan is being presented the "Student of the Month" award.  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and since I won't be here on Saturday or Sunday to say it, I'll add these wishes here...

For Saturday

May the Fourth Be With You!

and for Sunday

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Thanks to Sadie for the MoodGirls!

A Perfect Snow Day

We had the most perfect day in the snow with the boys on Monday.  It was warm so no one got cold and, while a little icy, there was plenty of snow for sledding, making snow angels, having snowball fights and making a snowman.  And we did all of those things.  Here are a few photos I posted on Facebook and after the photos is a video of the boys sledding.  You can hear how much fun they're having by their joyful laughter.  I'm sure Pat, their dad, was a little shocked to see how fast they were going but all went well and no one got hurt.  Ryan did slip once while walking on an icy patch and landed on his chin getting a little scrape but no incidents on the sled.  It was so nice and sunny that we were able to have a picnic lunch on campground tables in the snow.

We did not make that big snowman!  The two bottom parts where already there so we made a head and added the arms, buttons, etc...  I would suggest you watch the video larger by clicking HERE.

Snow Day from Darylynn Mills on Vimeo.

You can see both Kanan and Cooper in the video.  They had a great time, too, and Cooper rolls in the snow just like he does in the sand at the beach.

Snow Bound

We changed our plans... due to our big warm up, we decided to take the boys and the dogs to the snow today rather than wait until Thursday.  We were a little worried about crowds since today is a holiday- Martin Luther King Jr. Day- so the kids are out of school but we decided to chance it rather than have all the snow melt before we get up there.  Here's a sample of our 80 degree weather.  We had lunch at The Landing at Westlake with Chris and Liz and it was a gorgeous day!  This idyllic setting is less than 10 minutes from our house.  There are three restaurants there and lots of outdoor tables all with umbrellas so you are comfortable and this is the view.

There are lots of ducks and swans gliding through the water and only sail boats or quiet electric boats are permitted on the lake so it's very peaceful and quiet.

Kanan has been to the snow before but Cooper has only seen patches of snow when we were hiking in the high country of Yosemite so it will be fun to see how he reacts.  He made a spectacle of himself rolling in the little patches so I have a feeling he'll like it.  The boys have never seen snow before so this will be a big first for them.  They are so excited!  

Sno Pants

Didn't mean to disappear on you.  I've been having some computer issues.  I'm know it's my graphics card by the error message I've been getting.  I tried updating my graphics card driver but that didn't seem to help. I updated everything else I could think of.  One suggestion I read was that it could be caused by your computer overheating so I had Jeff vacuum out the inside of my computer, make sure everything was seated well and I'm starting to turn off my computer instead of leaving it on 24/7.  We'll see if it helps but so far (knock wood) the problem hasn't returned.

It's been so cold here in LA, actually freezing over night.  I've been gathering together everything that the boys need for our trip to the snow.  They have jackets, glove and mittens, hats and snow boots but they were missing one thing.  Excuse the blurry photo from Jessica's cellphone but can you guess what they're missing?

  Yep, sno-pants!

I found some nice snow overalls at Target.com for only @ $14.00.  Perfect.  Don't want to spend too much on things they'll outgrow by the next time we go to the snow.

Writing this before Sunday night's Golden Globes award show.  I enjoy this show because it's for both TV and movies and it's more fun than the Oscars.  Everyone sits at round tables eating and drinking so it gets quite loose.  This year's hosts are Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.  They have suggested a drinking game which could also be used at the Academy Awards.  You could make up your own version but here's theirs.

Tina Fey's and Amy Poehler's Golden Globes Drinking game:

• Drink any time an actress cries during her speech
• Drink any time you see a person actively not listening to someone onstage
• Drink any time someone says, “I didn’t prepare anything!”
• Eat a meatball sub any time someone thanks Harvey Weinstein
• Take off an article of clothing anytime they show Judi Dench
• Take off an article of clothing [for] anything Maggie Smith wins

Rainy Daze

What is this rare wet stuff?  After our 90 degree Santa Ana wind-driven heatwave, we now have our first winter storm on the way.  It's been raining on and off all day and we have the first snowfall of the season coming to our local mountains.  Not complaining though considering what the Northeast is going through with the Nor'easter on the heels of Sandy!  As I was typing this, we had a brown-out... half the power stayed on but my computer shut off.  Glad there's auto-saves by Blogger.  I'm writing this Thursday afternoon and Justin will be arriving tonight.  We have plans to go see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, tomorrow.  Jeff and I bought a Groupon for the Muvico theater.  We got the Premier, over-21, seating for the price of regular seats.  You can order drinks, food and they give you free popcorn.  The boys are looking forward to Uncle Justin's visit and Ryan especially because a belated birthday gift is anticipated.  Going to cut this short before I lose power again.  Just for the fun of it, type "askew" into Google.  Have a great weekend!

Fall Back Blues

As I sit here and write this, I have two dogs staring at me with expectant yet worried faces.  This happens ever autumn when we set the clocks back.  Cooper and Kanan are used to eating at 7 AM and 5 PM on the dot.  You can set a clock to me as I'm very consistent about timing.  So when they don't see me springing into action, they think I've lost my mind.  We are having mild Santa Ana's with temperatures in the 90's so I took advantage of the heat to give them both baths.  Wynne recommended Furminator products to help with shedding.  I already had the Furminator deshedding tool but I hadn't tried the shampoo and conditioner.  Theproducts both smelled really nice and the dogs look shiny and handsome.  I also use the Top Paw Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush .  I have one for Kanan designed for short hair breeds and a long-hair breed brush for Cooper.  I like them because they have a button that pushes up the hair so you can easily remove it.  The groomers at PetSmart recommended it and said it's what they use.

Besides the dogs being blue about the time change, I'm not a fan of the early darkness either.  I feel bad for Jessica because when she gets home in the evenings (she works until 6 PM) it's already dark.  She usually likes to take a little walk with the boys but now it will be dark.  I'd like to try and get the boys to Disneyland this week but once again, it's too hot.  Maybe by Wednesday or Thursday when a cool down is predicted.  Happy November and don't forget to vote on Tuesday.  I already voted by absentee ballot but Jeff hasn't.  Maybe I'll hide the car keys.      

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Wynne is back with a new blog (link in my reads) and it really makes me miss the good old days when we decorated our blogs with all the cute country graphics.  The Jack-o-Lantern luminaries above were part of a Halloween set from Graphics by Grace.  Why do you think they don't show up on Blogger as transparent?  I'm sure Annie would know as she's an expert with Blogger.  I'm worried about her since she hasn't posted since Sandy hit in full force.  I googled the area of the New Jersey shore where she lives in and they do say the power is out so I hope all is fine but she just can't get online to let us know she's okay.  I'm wishing I had given her my cellphone number because maybe she could get a text message out.  Will have to do that in the future so we aren't in the dark... no pun intended!    

We will go over to Jessica's this evening so we can see the boys get ready for trick or treating.  Pat's dad will be there so we probably won't be needed to go with them but we may watch a little bit to see how they do this year.  Mainly we're going to try and get a few photos of them in their costumes.  Since we live at the top of a hill with no houses across the street, we rarely get any trick-or-treaters.  We always buy candy just in case but we buy candy we like- 3 Musketeers for Jeff and Snickers for me.  See, not only can't we agree on politics, we can't agree on candy!

Sigtag by Susie

Frankenstorm!

Just a quick post about Sandy!  This really is a historic storm. New York and New Jersey are getting hit hard!  Connecticut and the whole North Eastern seaboard is in danger  Ground Zero is flooded, the show doesn't go on on Broadway, the subway has four feet of water.  Annie has been posting updates as she is on the shore in New Jersey.  I've been able to keep tabs on Annie by looking on my blog list on the right which updates when there's a new post.  Annie's blog is Cottage by the Sea.  Also in the line of fire is Toni whose blog is Countryside News.  She's in upstate New York. You can check in on them too.   Heather is in Connecticut but posting on Facebook

 Hurricane Sandy

Our House

Isn't this a perfect cartoon for Jeff and me?  We've been cancelling out each other's votes for 38 years now.  I don't know if you can see all the parts but it's really quite clever.  On the blue side, a Prius with an I Love Obamacare bumper sticker.  On the driveway, the New York Times,  MSNBC on the TV and a photo of Bill Clinton on the wall.  On the red side, a Hummer with a Tea Party Patriot bumper sticker.  On the driveway, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News on the TV and a photo of Ronald Reagan on the wall.  It says "'Til Vote Do Us Part" but Jeff and I have always been able to agree to disagree.  He'll tease me about hiding my absentee ballot and I'll give him misinformation about our polling place.  We watch the debates together and agree on some things and disagree on others.  We have a sense of humor about it all.  

We are having Santa Ana winds beginning tonight.  You know I always talk about them.  They heat us up in October, November and December and are often the cause of brush fires.  They are featured in the Christmas movie, The Holiday and I also just found out that The Beach Boys recorded a song entitled Santa Ana Winds!  I found it on YouTube and while not one of their better songs, it still sums up this unique weather phenomena in the Los Angeles area.  It's HERE.  Have a great weekend!  Here's a pumpkin I carved for one of our past Homework Assignments.  It's a sunflower.

        

Bouncing Back

Ryan had a miraculous recovery and was able to go to school on Wednesday and have his birthday celebration after all.  He went from a fever and hardly holding his head up to being excited about filling up his goodie bags for his classmates in a matter of a few hours.  Jessica got home from work and had to get busy making Halloween cookies to share.  Here's a photo of him on his 5th birthday (can you tell) wearing his birthday crown from school.  Sorry I cut it off but I took a quick photo with my cellphone.

  

Yesterday we went down to Channel Islands to go kayaking with Chris but when we got down there it was too windy and the kayak rental place told us it wouldn't be safe to go.  Fortunately, I had a Groupon for flights of beer and appetizers at a local restaurant in the area so we had to make do with that.  It was supposed to be our reward after a hard paddle but we got the reward without the work.  

Our heatwave is over and we have cool and drizzly weather ahead.  If the weather isn't too bad we have our local Pumpkin Festival in Calabasas to attend this weekend.  On Monday, I have a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Ryan and we're still looking for a day to take the boys to Disneyland.

Thunder Bolts and Lightning...

Mamma Mia!  We got caught in a downpour!  Rain was predicted and a little fell Wednesday night but by Thursday morning the sky was blue with puffy clouds.  I told Jacob that we'd walk to Costco (stroller for him) and Grandpa would meet us there later and drive us home.  Jeff was at the dog park and we didn't want to wait for him.  We did our shopping and then stopped for our usual Costco lunch... Jacob has a slice of pizza and I take the second piece home for later when Ryan gets home from school.  By the time we were ready to leave the sky had opened up and it was pouring.  There was no way to get to the car without getting drenched.  Jeff pulled the SUV up and I handed Jacob to him over a little wall and then Jeff and I put all our purchases in the car.  We were both soaked through.  By the time we got home it was lightning and thundering and Jeff and I both got flash flood warning sirens on our iPhones.  We're on a hill so we don't worry about flooding but poor Kalani was in the backyard so he was happy to see us arrive and let him in.

Today is my birthday and Jeff and I are going to lunch and a movie.  We're going to see Argo which is getting great reviews.  Jessica has the day off so we won't have the boys.  Justin and Sarah will be here over the weekend and we'll celebrate my birthday and Ryan's 5th birthday which is on the 17th.

I have a small update on the mystery of the headless pigeon.  Our neighbor said he saw a hawk swoop down and take it's head off.  Okay but that still doesn't explain how it was precariously perched on our backyard fence.  Still, it's better than worrying that there's some wacko pigeon-killer running loose in the neighborhood.

Finally, here's the latest photo of our Halloween front porch.  Ryan keeps suggesting thing to add and he's keeping with my black and white theme.  I did add the black cat he wanted but then he suggested a skeleton because it's white.  I reminded him I have a tiny skeleton on my entryway organizer but he wants a full sized skeleton that you can dress up!  I told him maybe next Halloween.  Happy Weekend!

      

Eerie Siri

Just a quick post because we've had a busy weekend.  We're working on remodeling one of the bathrooms in the house where Jessica and family live.  I'll post a photo sometime this week when we're done.  We've been having fun with our new iPhone 5's.  We've been downloading apps and learning more about the phones.  We are completely impressed and fascinated with Siri. You can ask Siri to do things for you like make a call, send a text message, etc... but "she" will also answer questions and give you information.  I asked Siri on Saturday afternoon if UCLA won their football game and she came back with a yes, the score and even a scoreboard showing what happened in each quarter.  I asked where the nearest McDonald's was and she came back with several locations and a map to each.  It's really impressive!  I asked, "Siri, what is the meaning of life? and she said, "All evidence to date suggests it's chocolate."  If you ask again, it will give you more philosophical answers.  Siri is eerie!  Here's a screenshot of page 2 of my iPhone where I have many of the apps that friends suggested.

The other day, we found an old roll of undeveloped film.  It was over 30 years old so we took it to Costco to have it developed.  What a find!  It was photos of Jeff's graduation from the Fire Department.  There are photos of the whole family:  Jeff's grandparents, his mother and father, my mom, and Justin when he was about 7 months old.  I'll either scan the photos or maybe we;ll see if Costco can put them on a CD for us.  That would probably be best.  Wow, we are all so young!  Happy October!

Carmageddon Part Deux

This weekend we are having the sequel to the first Carmageddon where they shut down the 405 Freeway from the 10 (Santa Monica Freeway) to the 101 (Ventura Freeway) in order to knock down the second half of the Mulholland Bridge.  For those unfamiliar with Los Angeles, this is a major thoroughfare from the valley to the westside, including the airport.  Like last time, people are being urged to stick close to home.  Last time, after all the hype, it turned out to be a non-event.  People steered clear of the area and there were no big problems.  However, officials are warning against any shenanigans like last time where a trio set up a dining table and toasted with wine.  This time they are warning, "You will be arrested!"  Party Poopers!

Jeff's iPhone arrived on Wednesday but mine came a day later so we waited to have them activated and our numbers transferred until Thursday.  Both times the Fed Ex guy was scared by our Halloween spider that drops down and then slowly climbs back up.  Jeff's been busy over at the other house working on the bathroom remodel. We'll stick close to home over the weekend and I'll learn about my new phone and add apps to it.

Today we are heading in the opposite direction towards the beach in Ventura to have lunch with Chris and Liz.  We have another heatwave on the way!

Arts & Craps

Jeff and I went to an Arts & Crafts Festival over the weekend. He's not really very interested in them (hence the title arts & craps) but tags along because he knows I return the favor by going to car shows and motorcycle races that I have little interest in.  Just as we were about to leave for the festival, Pat and Jessica drove up with the boys.  Ryan was insisting he wanted to go to Nani's house.  So we took Ryan and Jacob along with us so Jessica and Pat could do a little shopping without the boys.  Jane Seymour is a local resident and she was there displaying her artwork.  My friend, Wynne, is the biggest Jane Seymour/ Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman fan so I grabbed my cellphone to take a quick photo.  The set of Dr. Quinn is just a few minutes away from where we live as is the set of MASH.  I once went and took many photos of the Dr. Quinn set for Wynne and she made a webpage for them.  Anyway, here's the photo of Jane Seymour.

  

She is still very beautiful and managed to look cool despite 100 degree temperatures.  It was so hot that we left after an hour or so and took the boys to Golden Spoon.  It's a frozen yogurt shop where you can pick one or several flavors and also choose toppings.  I had vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries and Ryan had gummi bears for a topping and Jacob had dinosaur sprinkles.  Jeff chose a toffee topping.  It hit the spot on a hot day and the boys enjoyed the afternoon with Nani and Grandpa.  

Our new iPhones are scheduled to be delivered today!  I'm just as excited about that as Ryan was when I bought The Avengers for him yesterday!  I sent him home with the DVD, while I kept the BluRay and put the digital copy on my iPad.  

Writing this before the results show of Dancing with the Stars but it HAS to be Pamela Anderson!  I'm rooting for Giles and Peta!  Anyone have a favorite?

Wild Horses, Deer and Sloths, Oh My!

Justin and Sarah's days and nights are much more interesting than ours right now so I'm posting some of their photos from Costa Rica.  Justin uploaded these to Facebook with the title, "Sloths, Deer, Wild Horses and the Best Lunch Table Ever!"

Sloth

Sarah and a Deer

Justin with a Wild Horse

Justin & Sarah at the Best Lunch Table Ever!

Not quite sure about that "lunch" since all I see is a beer, a mixed drink, a couple of shot glasses and limes.  Maybe the wholesome lunch was yet to arrive.

Thinking of Joan in New Orleans.  Hope your beloved city stays safe from Hurricane Isaac.  What a coincidence that today is the 7th anniversary of Katrina!